Wednesday, June 04, 2008 10:10 AM
How do I light charcoal without lighter fluid?
It’s officially grilling season—the gassy, pungent smell of lighter fluid-soaked charcoal is thick in the air of our neighborhood. I’ll admit I was once guilty of the same crime: of squeezing half a bottle of lighter fluid over quick-start briquettes, if only to experience that primal thrill of watching the charcoal bowl flare up for an instant.
Those days are over. With a chimney starter (pictured left), you’ll never taste the acrid, chemical flavor of lighter fluid on your burger or steak again. I give all credit to Chicago’s barbecue life coach, Mr. Gary Wiviott, for showing me the way of the chimney.
Step 1: Loosely crumple three full sheets of newspaper (not glossy circulars or magazine paper). Loose paper balls or rings allow air to circulate through and around the paper when you light it. This allows the flames to get hot enough to ignite the charcoal. If the paper is tightly wadded, it will smolder when lit.
Step 2: Insert the crumpled sheets in the base of the chimney starter. Don’t cram them in there. Remember: airflow is key.
Step 3: Fill the chimney with charcoal.*
Step 4: Set the chimney on the top grate of your charcoal grill, with one side of the starter resting on the edge of the grill. The chimney should have a slight forward tilt. This improves airflow, as well.
Step 5: Light the newspaper in two or three places.
The paper will smolder and smoke for a minute or two as it burns and engages the charcoal. If you use natural lump charcoal, the charcoal will pop and crackle as it begins to ignite. This is normal.
Step 6: Wait about 10 minutes. At first, the chimney will emit thick clouds of smoke. As the charcoal at the bottom ignites, smoke will continue to pour out, but you’ll notice that it gradually starts looking lighter and “cleaner".
A full chimney of charcoal should be ready in 10 to 15 minutes. The charcoal is fully engaged when the smoke dies down to faint wisps, and you see burning red embers just below the top layer of charcoal.
Step 7: Lift the top grate of your grill with a pair of tongs or oven mitts. The grate will be hot from lighting the charcoal on it.
Step 8: Gently pour the chimney of charcoal on the bottom charcoal grate.**
Step 9: If you need more charcoal to get the grill hot enough, pour a chimney half full of unlit charcoal over the pile of lit charcoal. Give the unlit charcoal about 5 minutes to engage.
Step 10: Put the top grate back in place. You’re ready to cook.
* Use natural lump charcoal—it burns faster, hotter and cleaner than regular charcoal briquettes, which contain lots of chemicals that make the charcoal light quickly and burn evenly. Lump charcoal is nothing more than charred wood.
** It’s usually a good idea to “bank” the charcoal so that a portion of the grate is set up to cook by indirect heat. The side of the cooking grate with more charcoal underneath it will be hotter, and you can sear meat over this high, “direct” heat. After searing, move the meat to the “indirect” side—the section of the top grate over no (or low) charcoal. The interior of the meat will continue cooking without charring the outside.
Put your new knowledge to the test: check out these great grill recipes from The Nest's Recipe Finder.